Bar Crawling With the Boys From Hella Bitter

The boys from Hella Bitter know how to have a night out. I've seen it in action. The creator of the Brooklyn based bitters company, the dapper
Benjamin Ahr Harrison, almost always shows up with a tie and pocket
square. (That's him in the photo above). Eduardo Simeon's a flannel guy and Tobin
Ludwig, ever slightly woodsmanesque, might walk into a bar rocking a a button-down and work boots. Though I've never met the
fourth partner, Jomaree Pinkard, I'm told he keeps the other three in
line. I also have a sneaking suspicion he's just as much trouble as the rest
of them. Hella Bitter, the result of home-grown kitchen cocktail experiments by Harrison, is going official next Friday and launching its line of bitters
at Windmill Studios in Williamsburg. In anticipation of their debut, we chatted with them about their favorite places to toss back a few around town.

The Suspenders and Bow-Tie Bar: We love Maison Premiere for
its cocktails. They make a good negroni. Hotel Delmano is a good place
to experiment and try new things. Ben is usually the first to try a new
cocktail. He'll often order the most unusual-sounding or intriguing
drink on a menu. Eddie and Tobin are usually happy getting something
neat. It depends on the mood.

Shitty Dive of the Moment: Our shitty dive of choice right now
is Midway on Grand. Ideally a dive bar is within
200 feet of where you live. So it's great to be in Williamsburg because
there are so many options. We like their 'happy meal' special -- $5 for a Miller High Life and a shot of Old Crow.

The Nights for Fancy Pants:Raine's Law Room is one of our
favorite cocktail bars and our special occasion bar. It's a good place
for something classic like a Last Word, but their house cocktails are
always great."

Where to Drink with the Bartenders: We were at Summit for the
first time a couple of months ago. We
started with some nice house cocktails and shot the shit with the
bartenders and found out that they love their tequila there. They were
really generous and gave us shots of really good tequila. It's really nice
when they take something off the top shelf and drink with you.

The Whiskey Bar:Noorman's Kil is one of those places we would go to three times a week if it was
closer. It's a whiskey lovers' bar. Those guys are so knowledgeable and
do a great job at education. We like that because it's what we're trying
to do at Hella Bitter -- tell the masses what bitters and booze are
about.

Bars We Aspire To Be Involved With: If we had to
give a shout out to bars that we'd love Hella Bitters to be in, first
would be Pegu Club. It's the pinnacle of the cocktail resurgence. Kin
Shop would be a great place and also David Chang's new place, Booker &
Dax. We want Hella to be at places we love to eat and
drink. There's no better feeling than going into a place you love and
seeing your stuff on the bar.